India's Airtel claims "deadliest hackers" still can't crack its iPhone 3G

Hey, hackers! Now that we've got the attention of millions upon millions of incredibly talented individuals, here's your next challenge. India's Airtel -- which is offering Apple's iPhone 3G at a near-stratospheric price -- has claimed that "even the most deadly hackers on the planet won't be able to crack the codes that support the iPhone's Airtel applications with rival company SIMs." Just so you know, it appears that Airtel worked with Apple to develop "operator-specific iPhone applications," which is an interesting tidbit in and of itself. But let's focus on the task at hand here, and that's proving that making ridiculous claims about impenetrability always comes back to bite ya.

[Image courtesy of Zedomax, thanks Akshay]

[Jash Sayani @ Aug 23rd 2008 1:29PM]

Apple should claim that. AirTel is just a service provider, how can they claim it ?

[Andrew @ Aug 23rd 2008 1:31PM]

I hate to say this, and take it lightly, but Engadget, is this really what you want to do? Engadget has always covered all news, including hacks and piracy and everything, and thats fine if you're just reporting about it, but now this is like an actual call out for hackers based on Engadget's home page.

I dunno, I personally wouldn't mind seeing them eat their words, I just don't know if it's an appropriate article for such a big tech news site, especially one that's corporately backed.

[dustinlikewhat @ Aug 23rd 2008 1:33PM]

honestly, at this point, I'd be more impressed by a company that could actually make something un-hackable, than by someone hacking a phones software. that's not to say that I'd enjoy said device, it's just that everything has been hacked these days.

[James @ Aug 23rd 2008 2:15PM]

Then you are very impressed by Nokia. Sony Ericsson also impress you.

People who expects iphones to be unlocked quickly needs to take a look at what's the current status with other phone manufacturers.

[Salemega @ Aug 23rd 2008 1:46PM]

Who cares? Go buy it from Hong Kong.

I bought unlocked Iphone 3G from Hong Kong and brought it to Thailand.

It worked really well for Thailand sim card and

my friend bought the unlocked 3G from Australia and it worked too.

Only US hackers can't unlock the phone because the power of AT&T's $$$.

[Amit @ Aug 23rd 2008 2:32PM]

Iphone 3G is already unlocked by some smart people in India. Its not a complete unlock though. What happens is; they unlock your iphone 3G from any carrier and lock it to another one (gsm network) of your choose, using their own custom hacking software. Its pretty expensive (110US/-) that why I didn’t try. Because its, only add up to my iphone cost; which is 850US/-, as I imported it from U.S., almost a month back.

[ODoyle @ Aug 23rd 2008 3:06PM]

@
CUBSWILLWIN i lovee the toilets that spray ur arse .. we don't get them here in usa :--( . anyway about the iphone .. it fuckin sucks! the only thing i like about is the ipod + picture gallery interface and yes the web browser!! rest all is bullshit. i have the first gen iphone and now that iv installed bunch of applications it crashes alot , hangs alot. about the iphone 3g.. lol i laugh at people who get fooled by "3g" .. technically yes it is supposed to be fast but try openin a website on 2g and 3g iphone. i swear to god it opens faster on 2g lol. 3g reception out here in U.S. Sucks... and being a indian i know one damn thing for sure, you are not gonna get 3g speed in india. airtel's gprs and even edge is fookin slow! and about the price.. its not a big deal.. $800 phone in india is a very normal thing. i mean look at nokia. every new nokia's phone costs anywhere between $700 - $900 . anyway fuck iphone after using it for a year im back on communicator. i fuckin love nokia communicators.and i'll wait for the next year to buy another iphone.hopefully by then they'll have a much better iphone. what's gonna make it better is like a 32gb hard drive with 5mp camera and basic things like cut copy paste , folder lock ann bla bla bla........

[RAMA @ Aug 23rd 2008 5:21PM]

i think Airtel is still in it's 20's apple iphone hacking is a child's stuff..belive me.........
winpwn and many diffrent types of jailbraking available for iphone wach out for the youtube stuff all will love it .........

[jamsratnam @ Aug 23rd 2008 6:01PM]

one will be moron who will purchase such a costly cellphone to crack... it will be same as cracking the US version in 1/4 of the cost

[Aditya Verma @ Aug 23rd 2008 7:53PM]

Hello everyone at engadget.

We did it 10 days before it launched in India.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=oeRmagjpmFU

A new video will be up on www.rebelsimcard.com on Monday - 25-Aug-2008.

[HyperGo @ Aug 23rd 2008 8:56PM]

Why hack a buggy firmware? Its a waste of time and nothing to prove. Programmers (Hackers) are just waiting for a better challenge. Besides, Pwnage is doing a great job.

[Pradster @ Aug 23rd 2008 9:40PM]

With a price tag of about $700 for a 8 gig version, i do not think hackers are clammering to buy the iphone from airtel.
And this is the same company which cannot get scripting on its website and its billing right!!

I expect this statement to have been made by some gloating suit who had no idea what he was talking about!

[Raymond @ Aug 23rd 2008 9:55PM]

They can always buy an iPhone without a network lock from Hong Kong (A phone with a network lock is not going to make it in Hong Kong), and NZ and Italty with that $800~

[Franco @ Aug 23rd 2008 10:23PM]

LOL

Now they got the attention, prepare clocks, on your marks, ready... Go!
Just a few days and they will sorrow for their words...

[user6300 @ Aug 24th 2008 12:16AM]

Don't you guys get it?

They are trying to create hype by "challenging" hackers so that more and more people can buy.

LOL, in Poland they are PAYING Actors to be in line....

Hypes like these don't run well in India

Oh, if it's the sweet "K" from Balaji Films.... lol then it would be another thing all together... NOT

huh.... hype.. i m sick of it

[Lancelot @ Aug 24th 2008 12:22AM]

Off Topic but I just have to add that with the world economy being on a general downturn I hope people exhibit some common sense & refuse to pay such high prices for this phone. After having 3G reception problems, minor case cracks & application lags that drove me crazy I took my iphone back. After my experience I feel sorry for anyone who pays the prices I've seen reported here. Plus, you've still got a phone that doesn't support copy/paste functions or MMS..

[user6300 @ Aug 24th 2008 12:38AM]

Have you seen the disadvantages of Apple iPhone ?

do you guys have is 3G in India?

PAY for every thing over and above $800 (Rs 36000) simply WOW

NO BLUETOOTH - you cannot use it for file transfers nor for A2DP, Apple calls iPhone as iPod touch. what is use of this bluetooth, if you CANT HEAR songs via wireless. What this also means is that you cannot have any good ringtones or transfer jpg files across from your Nokia or a Reliance phone for that matter ANY other phone. ;-)

NO GPS - whats the use if you cant use it for turn by turn navigation? Apple put GPS chip on their phones. at this moment there is NO software on iPhone installed with turn by turn navigation capabilities, whats more is that whenever (if at all) it becomes available you will have to PAY for the SOFTWARE. In comparison, Nokia 6210 offers ALL with 1/3 the price.

NO COPY PASTE - (Apple - it's a Computer, but a computer need not have a copy paste facility).

NO MMS - MMS may not be as popular as SMS but still

NO AUTOFOCUS CAMERA - (Apple - why should a phone have a camera in first place?) hahaha what 2 Mega err. 2 Million pixels is it?

NO VIDEO RECORDING - (Apple - why record video when you can DOWNLOAD them from Apple STORE) ssss.

NO USER REPLACEABLE BATTERY - (Apple - why would you want to replace a battery when we are going to launch new iPhone V3 next year. after all it's just $800 bucks this year) WHY you need a battery replaced.

NETWORK LOCK. How many Indians are used to put up a CONTRACT with a PHONE. We europians are not so used to, I am guessing Indians would absolutely HATE the contracts, FREEDOM is order of the day. Oh, except for the Reliance customers lol.

Yes, iPhone does have a GOOD TOUCH SCREEN. perhaps the Good User Interface. But that's about it for iPhone V2

Aahhh. perhaps Apple iPhone V20 in about next 20 years (considering 1 version per year with 1 or 2 feature (advertised / hyped as 100/200 so called 'improvements') added each year) will have some features that can be compared with today's SamSung or SonyErricson or even for what it's worth Nokia Phone :P

Get a Nokia Instead, You wont regret it, be it Nokia 1100 or Nokia N96, all are great. In fact any other phone that is NOT apple iPhone will be far better and wise purchase than getting a 36000 $800 brick.

[Lancelot @ Aug 24th 2008 3:37AM]

I have to agree with everything but your last line. Where you state "any other phone that is not apple" should read like such,
"any other phone that is not Apple or Windows Mobile". Talk about a pick of scrap OS, Windows Mobile takes the cake..

[Omar @ Aug 24th 2008 3:58AM]

Crack it! I'll break it in half.

[John Rambo @ Aug 24th 2008 11:03AM]

hmm Dunno how this is hack free :) since I have been using Airtel Live on Unlocked/Pwned 2.0.1 phone.

Also,

I just updated to 2.0.2 and it did not ask me to "activate the phone". Yay !! (So, I dont think we need to use pwnage anymore in India for the phones bought in the US)

[Chump @ Aug 24th 2008 11:47AM]

gauntlet thrown...

[Ashvala @ Aug 24th 2008 1:11PM]

@rahul they just say it because we Indians bought ONLY 700(seven hundred) iPhone 3G's on the 1st day!

[Salemega @ Aug 24th 2008 1:47PM]

2.0.2 doesn't lock the phone but you still need pwnage to jailbrake.

[phanbouy @ Aug 24th 2008 2:56PM]

die slowly

[phanbouy fan @ Aug 24th 2008 5:58PM]

yeah, phanbouy said it, die slowly! you'll always get a high rank when you tells dumb people to die because that's what is cool to do to dumb people, because everyone knows how dumb they are! phanbouy knows how this goes, he got you good!

[mach2 @ Aug 24th 2008 10:00PM]

What they really mean, there is no hacker brain-dead enough to buy their locked iPhone for 31,000 rupees just to unlock it.

[Harsha @ Aug 25th 2008 1:14PM]

People never learn, do they? If there's one thing you should never do its saying your protection is super-cool. Hacking something some thing that people say is un-hackable is like raw meat thrown at a hungry lion.

[Michaelson @ Aug 25th 2008 2:06PM]

ok....

on another note... video recording is now available on the iPhone 3g, in two flavors.

visit http://customiphone.com for details

enjoy

[steven @ Aug 26th 2008 8:59PM]

if nobody can afford it, nobody can hack it

[surajit @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:23AM]

it is write it give it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!